The relationship between mental skills and level of cricket participation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the mental-skills differences at participatory level among three progressive levels of cricket participation recognised by the Northerns Cricket Union (NCU) in the Pretoria Gauteng region of South Africa. The study sample included 39 junior academy players, 68 premier league club/senior academy players and 20 first-class senior provincial players (N=127). Mental skills were assessed by means of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28) (Smith et al., 1995) and the Bull’s Mental Skills Questionnaire (Bull et al., 1996). One-way analysis of variance (one-way Anova) indicated that there were no differences between the respondents in the three levels of participation as regards their performance on the various mental-skills subscales. A definite psychological-skills profile did come to the fore, indicating that successful cricket participants, regardless of their level of participation, expressed high proficiencies in motivation, self-confidence, concentration ability, imagery ability, coachability and peaking under pressure. The essential conclusion was that there are no mental-skills differences between the various levels of cricket-playing performances in the one-day cricket format. However the study did reveal that mental skills are key antecedents of successful cricket participation and development.